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Vision-based navigation in low Earth orbit – Using the stars and horizon as an alternative PNT

2023; Elsevier BV; Volume: 71; Issue: 11 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.asr.2023.01.047

1879-1948

Joshua Critchley-Marrows, Daniele Mortari,

Planetary Science and Exploration

The risk to low Earth orbit space assets has never been greater than in the 2020s. Recent conflicts have led many governments, militaries, and industries to call for greater mission assurance, increased resilience and redundancy, and to make space sustainable for the future. As part of these urgencies is a growing need for autonomous PNT that does not rely on exterior infrastructure. The work disclosed details models and illustrates the potential for using visual-based navigation to deliver this alternative assurance for space domain users. Approaches from lunar navigation are adopted for orbits with closer proximity to Earth, where using known orbit mechanic models the user position can be calculated and predicted with strong performance (100 m). This is demonstrated both in a lost-in-space scenario and in situations of denied service. This system capability may also be adopted for future telecommunication mega-constellations to deliver a ranging signal for Earth users, known as LEO PNT.